Harry Potter and the New Power of Darkness
by LaraMarieNY
Summary: Harry Potter, in his sixth year at Hogwarts, is ready for new adventures, old friends (Lupin, Grawp, THE RETURN OF PADFOOT), and a new and dangerous threat to the wizarding world, Maven Maleficent. Adventure, Drama, Romance, Comedy...Everything you could


Harry Potter and the New Power of Darkness  
  
::*Spoiler Warning*::  
Disclaimer:: I don't own anything but the plot and Maven Maleficent.  
  
Chapter 1:: Unexpected Visitors  
  
The boy called Harry Potter awoke with a start. He'd been having the dream  
again; the dream that had haunted his sleep for weeks now. But the dream  
was nothing compared to the reality.  
Don't think about it, Harry told himself. But he couldn't help it. All he  
could see was that flash of light; the look of fear and surprise on his  
godfather's face as he fell, fell through the mysterious veil...  
It was just then that Harry realized there was something heavy sitting on  
the end of his bed. There were no lights on inside number four Privet  
Drive, and the moon was hidden by the thick grey clouds that stood as  
remnants of the fierce storm that had shaken the house hours earlier. Harry  
reached for his glasses on his bedside table, then groped around in the  
darkness for whatever was at the foot of his bed.  
He froze when he heard the thing breathing steadily. Having been in the  
wizarding world for over five years now, Harry's first reaction was to  
reach for his wand, but before his fingers closed around his 11-inch holly  
wand containing the feather of a phoenix, someone spoke out of the  
darkness.  
"Don't bother," the voice began, "You won't need it."  
Harry froze. That voice. That cold, unnatural, high-pitched voice. It  
reminded him a great deal of Lord Voldemort. But it couldn't be him. Harry  
would have felt his presence and the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead  
would have riddled him with pain. Plus, the voice was, if possible, even  
more evil sounding than the Dark Lord's, and Harry should know, having come  
face-to-face with him many times before.  
"I must speak to you, Harry Potter. The time soon comes for the final  
showdown. I see that you will prevail. But I warn you now; there is a new  
power rising, more evil than Voldemort and his Death Eaters could even  
imagine. They are nothing compared to me. I have warned you, Harry Potter.  
This is where I leave you."  
"Wait! Who- I mean, what are you?" Harry had finally found his voice.  
Despite his terror, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.  
Harry shuddered as the voice laughed. "I am the one who brings with me  
death, destruction, and dismay. I am the one who tears families apart. I am  
the one who will one day rule the world, controlling the living, the dead,  
and all those in between. I am evil in its purest form. I am Maven  
Maleficent!"  
As Maven Maleficent spoke his own name, he turned to face Harry. Harry  
gaped in horror at the sight before him.  
Maven Maleficent was the size of a young child, with ghastly white skin and  
black, messy hair. But his face was not the face of any child Harry had  
ever seen; in fact, Harry was quite sure no child born to mankind had a  
face like that. His face was thin and skeletal, with a wide, leering mouth  
only partly concealing razor-sharp fangs. But this was nothing compared to  
his eyes. His eyes were large and oval and crimson red, the color of blood.  
They glowed brightly as if they were engulfed in flames. Then, with a flash  
of light, Maven Maleficent was gone.  
  
Once Harry had gotten over his initial shock, he leapt from his bed and ran  
to his writing desk, pulling out three rolls of parchment and his quill in  
one fluid movement. He had to tell Ron, Hermione, and Sirius what he had  
just seen.  
But then Harry remembered. He could not tell Sirius. Sirius was gone, and  
it was all Harry's fault...  
Before his grief could settle in again, his bedroom door swung open with  
another blinding flash of light. Shielding his eyes, Harry lunged for his  
wand and thrust it in front of him as he turned to face the door. Harry  
nearly died of shock. There, in his doorway, was Sirius Black.  
  
"Sirius?" asked Harry, dumbfounded.  
"Hello Harry. How are you?"  
"Who cares how I am?! Sirius-you...how did you, I mean...how are you here?  
I thought you were-"  
"Dead?" Sirius laughed. "Well, I thought I was for awhile, to tell you the  
truth. All I saw was darkness. All I felt was emptiness. All I heard were  
incomprehensible whispers. But after a while, I started to feel more and  
more alive. If this is death, I thought, well, it sucks. Reminded me of  
Azkaban. I started thinking about Azkaban, about escaping, about you. And  
then I remembered. I remembered that you had snuck into the Department of  
Mysteries because you thought Voldemort had me. I remembered seeing you  
taking on those Death Eaters...  
"And then I realized I had no idea whether or not you were all right. What  
kind of godfather was I? So, I decided that I needed to get out and find  
you. The minute this thought popped into my mind, I found myself on that  
dais, next to the veiled archway.  
"I went straight to Dumbledore. I don't know how I made it out of the  
Ministry. I had just enough strength left in me to transform, and I made my  
slow and winding way to Hogwarts. I finally arrived earlier this evening.  
Dumbledore seemed relieved and pleased, rather than shocked as I had  
expected.  
"He began to explain the veil to me. He said that, beyond the veil lay  
darkness. Those who are weak of heart and mind are immediately overcome by  
the darkness. Those with a strong-will may linger for awhile, whispering  
and crying for help. However, they, too, are eventually overcome. Only  
those with a good heart and a clear conscience stand any chance to make it  
back alive. They must understand their situation. And, they must genuinely  
want to help someone or finish something important, not out of selfishness,  
but out of concern for others.  
"Well, Dumbledore said that since I had wanted to look after you and make  
sure you were safe, I could come back. And here I am."  
Harry found that he could not look his godfather in the eye. He finally  
spoke, his voice shaking. "It's all my fault, Sirius. If I hadn't been  
stupid enough to believe-"  
"Save it, Harry," Sirius growled.  
Harry looked up at him, alarmed, but saw that Sirius was smiling.  
"You went to save my life, Harry, and I went to save yours. I knew the  
dangers facing me, just as you did. If anything, I should be thanking you.  
I realize now that life is pretty good. Being cooped-up at Grimmauld Place  
is better than being dead." Sirius stopped for a moment and laughed. "Huh,  
I never thought I'd be saying that."  
Harry looked at him. For the first time in weeks, he smiled. The summer was  
looking better already. Harry didn't even remember to tell Sirius about  
Maven Maleficent. That wasn't important right now. What was important was  
that Sirius was back.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Author\'s Note:: Hey everyone! OK, that was my first attempt at an HP  
fanfic, so go easy on me! I just searched for my story on the site and  
found that there is a story called \"Harry Potter and the Power of  
Darkness\"...I had no idea and I just want everyone to know that this has  
nothing to do with that story. Now, please review and i\'ll love you  
forever! 


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